Thanks, Patrick, Douglas. Got rid of the dogs' balls, Patrick. And Doug, we
once in Australia had a (Labor) government which cared so strongly about
tertiary education that they abolished all tuition fees for students and
full-time students were paid to attend classes. Not much, about $45 a week,
slightly less than the dole. But in 1970s it was a pretty good time at uni.
Overpayments needed to be paid back of course if you dropped out. Which I
had so my overpayment was deducted from my first two pay packets where I
worked in this job as a clerk in the TEAS dept, Tertiary Education
Assistance Scheme. This all would sound like science fiction to kids of
today no doubt.
Here is my revamp:
The Hole
Muted sounds of gouge
through double-glazed windows
in the Blackman Hotel
Next door, 450 St Kilda Rd
once a four-storey office,
where I worked
now a big hole
Big yellow machinery
scraping more out
Six months maybe
My first full-time job
after dropping out of uni
1976, pre-punk, Big Mal in power
punchcards, flexitime, everyone
identified by numbered class level
denoting clerical competence
We base-grade temps, fifteen
of us, gawked at by perms
Assigned desks, phones, twirly chairs,
introduced to files in batches bound
with flat, snapping red rubber bands
Days sliced up, time packaged,
processing dead-lines, time mattering,
except at Friday Social drinks
20 cent foaming keg-tapped beer,
one floor below stratified desks,
loosened ties, widening grins
All gouged away
down the memory hole
Let's drive to Perth, Denise
I implored a plump, lisping,
earnest assessor one Friday
In that Vee Dub of yours
Now right now
let's never
clock back on
But we didn't, not then
not ever. Denise married Peter,
made clerk class four
I went back to uni, taught,
strode class-free classrooms
Sidestepped the hole
bw
29.12.16
Bill
On Thu, 29 Dec 2016 at 10:40 AM, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> You made he right choice, Bill.
>
>
>
> Clerks, yes, but what did you (or it) do?
>
>
>
> Doug
>
> > On Dec 28, 2016, at 3:43 AM, Patrick McManus <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >
>
> > thanks Bill all those holes!!!!!
>
> >
>
> > 'dogs-balls standouts' is new to me!!cheersP
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > On 27/12/2016 21:15, Bill Wootton wrote:
>
> >> The four-storey office,
>
> >> 450 St Kilda Rd
>
> >> where I once worked
>
> >>
>
> >> now a big hole
>
> >> Big yellow machinery
>
> >> scraping more out
>
> >>
>
> >> Muted sounds of gouge
>
> >> from behind double-glazed windows
>
> >> in the Blackman Hotel next door
>
> >>
>
> >> Six months maybe
>
> >> My first full-time job
>
> >> after dropping out of uni
>
> >>
>
> >> 1976, pre-punk, Big Mal in power
>
> >> punchcards, flexitime, everyone
>
> >> accorded a numbered class level
>
> >>
>
> >> known or to be learned
>
> >> We base-grade clerks, all fifteen
>
> >> of us, dogs-balls standouts
>
> >>
>
> >> Files, batches, phone, desk,
>
> >> processing time. Time, always time
>
> >> except Friday drinks, Social Club
>
> >>
>
> >> Someone tapped a keg, 20c a glass
>
> >> one floor below stratified desks,
>
> >> loosened ties, toothy smiles
>
> >>
>
> >> All gouged away
>
> >> down the memory hole
>
> >> Let's drive to Perth, Denise
>
> >>
>
> >> I remember imploring
>
> >> a plump, lisping, earnest
>
> >> assessor one Friday
>
> >>
>
> >> Now right now let's
>
> >> not clock back on
>
> >> ever
>
> >>
>
> >> But we didn't, not then
>
> >> not ever. Denise married Peter,
>
> >> made clerk class four
>
> >>
>
> >> I went back to uni, taught,
>
> >> strode class-free classrooms
>
> >> Sidestepped the hole
>
> >>
>
> >> bw
>
> >> 27.12.16
>
>
>
> Douglas Barbour
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
>
>
>
> Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuations
> 2 (UofAPress).
>
> Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
>
>
>
> Venerable Optimist
>
>
>
> He saw the dark as a ragged garment
>
> spread out to air.
>
> Through its rents and moth-holes
>
> the silver light came pouring.
>
>
>
> Denise Levertov
>
>
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